UCL Department of Information Studies

UCL Department of Information Studies is a centre for research in librarianship, information science, archives and records management, digital humanities and publishing. UCL is currently ranked 10th in the world,{{Cite web|url=https://www.topuniversities.com/qs-world-university-rankings|title=UCL|website=QS World University Rankings|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-21}} and is the UK's largest department of information studies.{{cite web| url = http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dis/about-dis| title = Information Studies - UCL – University College London| date = 3 July 2018}} In September 2017, UCL was ranked fifth in the world for the study of arts and humanities.[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0917/150917-ucl-ranked-in-worlds-top-five-universities-for-arts-and-humanities "UCL ranked in world's top five universities for arts and humanities"]

The Department currently offers taught postgraduate study in MA Archives and Records Management, MA/MSc Digital Humanities, MSc Information Science, MA Library and Information Studies, Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies, MA Publishing, and MRes in Information Studies. The PG Dip/MA Library and Information Studies are accredited by Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), and the MA LIS is accredited by the American Library Association (ALA).[http://www.ala.org/educationcareers/accreditedprograms/directory "Directory of ALA-Accredited and Candidate Programs in Library and Information Studies"] The school is part of the iSchools consortium of information schools.[http://ischools.org/members/directory/ "iSchools directory"]

UCL is one of the main institutions in London's Knowledge Quarter, comprising the area around King's Cross, the Euston Road and Bloomsbury. The Department of Information Studies is located in the heart of UCL's Bloomsbury Campus, in Foster Court.

The UCL library system comprises 17 libraries located across several sites within the main UCL campus and across Bloomsbury, linked together by a central networking catalogue and request system called Explore.{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/|title=UCL Library Services|date=13 August 2018 |publisher=University College London|access-date=21 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://ucl-new-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/search?vid=UCL_VU2&sortby=rank|title=UCL Library Services Explore|access-date=21 January 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/catalogue.shtml|title=eUCLid library catalogue|publisher=University College London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206123108/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Library/catalogue.shtml|archive-date=6 December 2010|url-status=dead|access-date=29 September 2010|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://ucl-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=1&dstmp=1393975596438&vid=UCL_VU1&fromLogin=true|title=Explore library catalogue|publisher=University College London|access-date=4 March 2014}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The libraries contain a total of over 2 million books.{{cite web|url=http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/rereports/year/2008/reviewofhefcefundingforresearchlibraries/|title=Review of HEFCE funding for research libraries|publisher=Higher Education Funding Council for England|access-date=23 June 2012}}

UCL's Main Library is now the largest Library ar UCL but it originated as the Small Library in the Wilkins Building. It is located on the 1st floor of the Wilkins Building.

It is the earliest library opened in the Wilkins Building just over a year after the first UCL Librarian, Revd Dr Francis Augustus Cox was appointed in 1827. The first UCL Librarian, Revd Dr Francis Augustus Cox, was appointed in 1827.

The first purpose-built General Library opened in 1849 and was later renamed after the Professor of Architecture who designed it, Thomas Leverton Donaldson.

In 1907 the Library expanded to take up the whole length of the first floor of the Wilkins Building and became the Main Library. It is still very popular with students today and often appearing in films and television programmes.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

It contains collections relating to the arts and humanities, economics, history, law and public policy.

{{Incomplete list|date=January 2015}}

Each of the following persons was director of the School of Librarianship, the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies, or the Department of Information Studies, during the period specified after their name:

• Ernest A. Baker (1919–1934)William Robert Irwin. Challenge: An Anthology of the Literature of Mountaineering. Columbia University Press. New York. 1950. Page 344. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MbxPAQAAIAAJ Google Books].[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U222166 "Baker, Ernest A."], Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edition, Oxford University Press, April 2014.
• John Duncan Cowley (1934–1944)University of London:School of Librarianship at university college. Handbook for session 1935-36. London: UCL; 1935. Print.
• Raymond Irwin (1944–1969)[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U156022 "Irwin, Prof. Raymond"], Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edition, Oxford University Press, April 2014.
• Prof. Arthur Brown (1969–1973)[http://archives.ucl.ac.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqSearch=RefNo==%27MS%20ADD%20374%27&dsqDb=Catalog "Funeral service for Arthur Albert Brown". Cassette tape. UCL Library Services: UCL Archives.]
• Brian Campbell Vickery (1973–1983)[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U41115 "Vickery, Prof. Brian Campbell"], Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edition, Oxford University Press, April 2014.
• A. G. Watson (1984–1990)
• Robin C. Alston (1990–1995){{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/02/robin-alston-obituary|title=Robin Alston obituary|last=Green|first=Stephen|date=2011-10-02|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}}
• Ia Mcllwaine (1995–2001)
• Susan Hockey (2001–2004){{Cite web|url=http://eadh.org/susan-hockey-curriculum-vitae-publications|title=Susan Hockey - Curriculum Vitae & Publications {{!}} EADH - The European Association for Digital Humanities|website=eadh.org|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}}
• David Nicholas (2004–2011){{Cite web|url=http://ciber-research.eu/CIBER_team.html|title=CIBER Research Ltd. the Team.|website=ciber-research.eu|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-01-29}}
• Claire Warwick (2011–2013)
• Rob Miller (2013–2018)
• Elizabeth Shepherd (2018–2023){{Cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dis/new-head-of-department|title=Next Head of Department|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}}
• Charlie Inskip (2023–2024)
• Elizabeth Lomas (2024-2025)

The Department is structured around four research centres, which also engage in interdisciplinary and cross-domain research.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dis/research|title=Our research|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}}

• Centre for Digital Humanities
• ICARUS] (International Centre for Archives and Records Management Research
• Centre for Publishing
• Forum on Information Literacy
• KIDS (Knowledge Information and Data Science Group)

The UCL Centre for Digital Humanities was founded in 2010. It offers research opportunities at postgraduate level, as well as short-courses.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dh/courses|title=Studying DH at UCL|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}} Its research its multidisciplinary, covering the intersection of digital technologies with the humanities.

The International Centre for Archives and Records Management Research was founded in 2005 and defines its research as the following:

Developing and contributing to an active, international, inclusive and sustainable network of critical and reflective thinking on archives and records management practice.

Facilitating the ethical and effective utilisation of archives, records, information, heritage and the work of managing them, in support of wider societal goals including social justice, social cohesion and more equitable access to information.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dis/icarus|title=Centre for Archives and Records Research (ICARUS)|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}}

The Centre for Publishing offers a research-led MA in Publishing as well as the opportunity to engage with nearby publishing organisations in Central London. The Centre also engages in collaborative interdisciplinary research, in areas including information science, digital humanities, and library and archive studies.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/publishing/about-centre|title=About the Centre for Publishing|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}} There is a strong emphasis on the digital aspects of publishing.

Founded at UCL in 2019, the Forum on Information Literacy is a researchers' alliance with an interest in groundbreaking and disruptive research into information literacy in all its forms. It represents a space for academic researchers who are active in the field of information literacy research in the UK, to discuss and challenge ideas, and to engage in critical reflection on theory, practice and praxis oriented research, including the following goals:

• Identify the critical challenges that information literacy addresses and produce research, evidence and ideas that move the IL agenda forward nationally and globally
• Explore new theoretical and methodological approaches to deepen understanding of IL practice
• Address real world problems, encouraging and extending  collaboration in, & co-production of, IL research via disciplinary, interdisciplinary and practitioner contexts  
• Challenge and interrogate the discourse communities around IL research and contribute to deeper understanding of IL as a social practice.{{Cite web|last=UCL|date=2021-10-13|title=Forum on Information Literacy|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/information-studies/forum-information-literacy|access-date=2021-11-24|website=Information Studies|language=en}}

KIDS is an active research group with interests and expertise that span across a number of disciplines including: knowledge representation, reasoning about actions, natural language processing, probabilistic logics, non-monotonic logics, argumentation, Bayesian reasoning, statistical machine learning, data science and crowdsourcing. Their overarching research objective is to develop methodologies, algorithms and paradigms that build bridges between logic-based AI and statistical machine learning approaches, as well as finding practical applications in robust real-world applications. UCL Human Informatics ([https://www.ucl.ac.uk/information-studies/ucl-human-informatics UCLHI]) is an interest group within KIDS that collaborating with UCL Psychology and Brain Science explores multidisciplinary aspects of human activities with information systems.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/information-studies/knowledge-information-and-data-science-kids-group|title=Knowledge, Information and Data Science (KIDS) Group|last=UCL|date=2018-06-19|website=Information Studies|language=en|access-date=2019-01-21}}

KIDS facilitates PhD research in topics related to knowledge organisation, knowledge representation or knowledge-based reasoning, as well as interaction with research communities in the wider profession, including the International Society for Knowledge Organisation, the Universal Decimal Classification Consortium, and the Bliss Classification Association.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dis/research/koarg|title=Knowledge Organization and Representation Group|website=www.ucl.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}}

• Library and Information Science
• S. R. Ranganathan (b. 1892- d. 1972) - Mathematician and Librarian
• Lynne Brindley (b. 1950) - first female Chief Executive of the British Library.
• Richard Ovenden (b. 1964) - Bodley's Librarian, Bodleian Library, 2014–present.
• Brian Vickery (b.1918- d.2009) - founder of the Classification Research Group, Director of SLAIS (now DIS) at UCL, 1973–1983.
• David McKitterick (b. 1948–) - now Emeritus Honorary Professor of Historical Bibliography at Trinity College, Cambridge.{{Cite web | url=https://www.britac.ac.uk/user/1889 |title = Professor David McKitterick}}
• Andrew Dalby (b.1947)
• Stephen Robertson (computer scientist) (b. 1946) - Now retired, Robertson is Professor Emeritus at City University, and a visiting professor in the Department of Computer Science at UCL.{{Cite web | url=https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/dh/2014/01/21/robertsonprize/ |title = The Stephen Robertson Prize | UCL UCLDH Blog}} The Stephen Robertson prize for the best dissertation in the UCL MA/MSc in Digital Humanities is named after him.
• Nicholas Belkin - Professor at the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University
• Publishing
• Iain Stevenson (d.2017) - Professor Emeritus in Publishing at the UCL Centre for Publishing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/information-studies/iain-stevenson|title=Iain Stevenson|last=UCL|date=2018-07-05|website=Information Studies|language=en|access-date=2019-01-21}}

At the time of its opening, the School of Librarianship was advertised as being "organised so as to give a systematic training on a broad basis to Students who are already Librarians or who propose to adopt Librarianship as their profession. It will also be available for others who desire to increase their knowledge in one or other of the branches of its work."

Admission was subject to "such enquiries as [the Provost] may deem necessary in each case, and after receiving reports from the appropriate College officers. The Tutor to Women Students advises the Provost as to the admission of Women Students."

In its first session, 1919–1920, the following programme of study was available to students:

A. General Subjects

(Courses in Latin, English, French, German, other Modern Languages, History, and other Arts and Science subjects.)

B. Day Courses

1. Bibliography
2. Cataloguing and Indexing
3. Classification
4. Library Organisation
5. Public Library Law
6. Library Routine
7. Literary History and Book Selection
8. Palaeography and Archives
9. Demonstrations and Visits

C. Evening Courses

1. Cataloguing and Indexing
2. Literary History and Book Selection

D. Practical Instruction

E. Public Lectures.University of London. School of Librarianship at University College. First Session MDCCCCXIX - MDCCCCXX. (prospectus booklet)

The UCL Department of Information Studies offers three prizes every year for the Library and Information Studies programme:

• Sir John MacAlister Medal founded in 1926 in the memory of Sir John MacAlister, who founded the School of Librarianship. The medal is awarded to the most distinguished candidate in the MA in Library and Information Studies.University College London. School of Library, Archive and Information Studies Prospectus Issued 1974. p. 22.
• Cowley Prize founded in 1950 in memory of John D. Cowley, the late director of the School of Librarianship, with the royalties received from the publication entitled The Libraries in London, being a course of lectures given at the Easter Vacation Course in Librarianship in 1948; awarded to two distinguished candidates for the MA Degree in Library and Information Studies.University College London. School of Library, Archive and Information Studies Prospectus Issued 1974. p. 21.
• Mary Piggott Prize in memory of Mary Piggott, who taught Cataloguing and Classification in the school from 1947–1974; awarded to a student on the MA or Postgraduate Diploma in LIS for outstanding achievement in Cataloguing and Classification.

The Archives and Records Management programme awards the following two prizes:

• Sir Hilary Jenkinson Prize in memory of Hilary Jenkinson, the archive theorist who influenced the University of London's decision to establish a Diploma in Archive Studies;{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/information-studies/jenkinson-lectures|title=Jenkinson Lectures|date=2019-01-21}} awarded annually to a student of distinction in the MA in Archives and Records Management.
• Churchill-Jenkinson Prize awarded to an outstanding student on the Archives and Records Management programme.

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{{University College London|academics}}

Category:Departments of University College London

Category:Information schools